RS-12

A preserved RS-12 at the Travel Town Museum.

Type and origin
Power type	Diesel-electric
Builder	Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Corporation
Model	RS-12
Build date	April 1951–May 1956
Total produced	50

Specifications
Configuration:
• AAR	B-B
• UIC	Bo′Bo′
Gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Trucks	AAR Type B
Length	58’ 6”
Width	10’
Height	14’
Loco weight	232,000 lb (105,000 kg)
Fuel capacity	900 US gal (3,400 L; 750 imp gal)
Lubricant cap.	160 US gal (610 L; 130 imp gal)
Coolant cap.	250 US gal (950 L; 210 imp gal)
Sandbox cap.	30 cu ft (0.85 m³)
Prime mover	606A
Engine type	Four-stroke diesel
Aspiration	Turbocharger Elliott Company H503 (215 hp)
Displacement	11,874 cu in (195 L)
Generator	Westinghouse YG42B
Traction motors	Westinghouse 362DF (4)
Cylinders	In-line 6
Cylinder size	12+3⁄4 in × 15+1⁄2 in (324 mm × 394 mm)
Transmission	Electric
Loco brake	Straight air
Train brakes	Air 6-SL, or 24-RL

Performance figures
Maximum speed	18:74 gear ratio: 65 mph (105 km/h); 18:65 gear ratio: 75 mph (121 km/h)
Power output	1,200 hp (895 kW)

The BLH RS-12 railroad locomotive was a 1,200 hp (895 kW) diesel-electric road switcher locomotive configured with an AAR type B-B wheel arrangement. It was the follow-on model to the former Baldwin DRS-4-4-1000, first introduced in 1948. It was more successful than its predecessor selling 50 units to eight railroads, versus 22 units to three railroads. Only one railroad, The Pennsylvania Railroad bought both models.^[1]

When Baldwin Locomotive Works merged with Lima-Hamilton Corporation, forming the Baldwin-Lima-Hamilton Corporation and decided to concentrate locomotive production at Baldwin's Eddystone, Pennsylvania plant. There was still one outstanding order for Lima A-3174s but the customer, New York Central Railroad agreed to receive RS-12s instead.

The locomotive could be ordered with either a steam generator for steam heat, or dynamic brakes contained within the short hood. McCloud River Railroad No. 32 and 33 were the only two ordered with dynamic brakes of the fifty units built. One RS-12 is preserved in operational condition in the "Skunk Train" livery of California Western 56 (Locomotive) at Travel Town Museum in Griffith Park; another #300^[2] is owned by and occasionally used on the Escanaba and Lake Superior Railroad, with others owned by the same railroad held in non-operational condition.

Escanaba and Lake Superior 207 was leased to the Nicolet Badger Northern Railroad for a short time in the 1990s and was later returned to the Escanaba and Lake Superior where it now remains in storage in Wells, Michigan.

Escanaba and Lake Superior 209 was used for ballast and general freight until the late 1980s when it was put in storage.

Escanaba and Lake Superior 212 started to be rebuilt in the 1980s but the rebuilt was never completed. It remains in storage along with other E&LS Baldwins at Wells, Michigan.

Original buyers

Railroad^[3]	Quantity	Road numbers	Notes
Central Railroad of New Jersey	4	1206–1209
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (“Milwaukee Road”)	2	970–971	Renumbered 926–927
Durham and Southern Railway	3	1200–1202
Kaiser Bauxite Company	4	101–104	104 last RS-12 built
McCloud River Railroad	2	32–33	to California Western 55– 56
New York Central Railroad	17	5820–5836	Equipped with steam generators, Renumbered 6220–6236. to Penn Central #8067-8083 in 1968
Pennsylvania Railroad	8	8105–8110, 8776, 8975	to Penn Central #8084-8091 in 1968
Seaboard Air Line Railroad	10	1466–1475	to Seaboard Coast Line Railroad 207–216
Total	50

References

^ Foster, Gerald L. (1996). A field guide to trains of North America (first ed.). Boston: Houghton Mifflin. p. 8. ISBN 0-395-70112-0.
^ Welke, Robert C. "RailPictures.Net Photo: ELS 300 Escanaba & Lake Superior Railroad Baldwin RS-12 at Wells, Michigan by Robert C. Welke". www.railpictures.net. Retrieved 25 July 2021.
^ Laundry, Mark. "The Baldwin Diesel Zone - Baldwin Diesel Locomotives Original owners". baldwindiesels.railfan.net. Retrieved 25 July 2021.

Kirkland, John F. (November 1985). The Diesel Builders Volume 1: Fairbanks-Morse and Lima-Hamilton. Interurban Press. ISBN 0-916374-69-6.
Kirkland, John F. (November 1994). The Diesel Builders volume 3: Baldwin Locomotive Works. Interurban Press. ISBN 0-916374-93-9.
Diesel Engine Manual DE-111 for 600 series engines, Manual DE-111. Baldwin Lima Hamilton Corp. June 1951.
Operator's Manual for Standard 1200-HP Diesel Electric Switching Locomotives, Manual S-120. Baldwin Lima Hamilton Corp. March 1956.

v t e Diesel locomotives built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works
Early units	Experimental units Baldwin pre-production switchers 4-8+8-4-750/8-DE
Switchers	VO-660 RS-4-TC DS-4-4-660 DS-4-4-750 S-8 VO-1000 DS-4-4-1000 S-12
Road switchers	DRS-4-4-1000 RS-12 DRS-4-4-1500 AS-16 DRS-6-4-1500 AS-416 DRS-6-6-1500 AS-616
Transfer units	DT-6-6-2000 RT-624
Cab units	DR-12-8-1500/2 DR-6 series DR-4-4-15 RF-16 RP-210
Export units	Soviet Railways ДБ20 DRS-6-4-660 DRS-6-4-750 DRS-6-4-1000 RF-615E
(See also: List of Baldwin diesel locomotives)